Sending an object to another star is still the stuff of science fiction. But some concrete missions could get us at least part way there. These “interstellar precursor missions” include a trip to the solar gravitational lens point at 550 AU from the sun—farther than any artificial object has ever been, including Voyager.

To get there, we’ll need plenty of new technologies, and a recent paper presented at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan this month looks at one of those potential technologies—electric propulsion systems, otherwise known as ion drives.

The paper aimed to assess when any existing ion drive technology could port a large payload on one of several trajectories, including a trip around Jupiter, one visiting Pluto, and...

Particularly beneficial for rural U.S. areas, developing countries. Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have created a portable device that can detect colorectal and prostate cancer more cheaply and quickly than prevailing methods. The team believes the device may be especially helpful in developing countries, which experience higher cancer mortality rates due in part to barriers to medical diagnosis.

“Our new biochip device is low-cost — just a few dollars — and sensitive, which will make accurate disease diagnosis accessible to anyone, whether rich or poor,” said XiuJun (James) Li, Ph.D...

Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world’s first soft touchpad that can sense the force, area and location of contact without electricity. The device utilises pneumatic channels, enabling its use in environments such as MRI machines and other conditions that are unsuitable for electronic devices. Soft devices like soft robots and rehabilitation aids could also benefit from this new technology.

Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world’s first soft touchpad that is able to sense the force, area and location of contact withou...

A team led by researchers at MIT has discovered that a distant interstellar cloud contains an abundance of pyrene, a type of large, carbon-containing molecule known as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH).

The discovery of pyrene in this far-off cloud, which is similar to the collection of dust and gas that eventually became our own solar system, suggests that pyrene may have been the source of much of the carbon in our solar system...